Another elephant, the youngest of the herd, recently
died at the Oregon Zoo, a facility notorious for consistently placing
profits above the well-being of elephants.

Another elephant, the youngest of the herd, recently died at the Oregon
Zoo, a facility notorious for consistently placing profits above the
well-being of elephants.

Lily, a sweet young elephant who didn’t deserve to be born into a life of
captivity, tragically passed away just one day before her sixth birthday,
reportedly due to complications from a strain of herpes virus.

Lily was a product of the Oregon Zoo’s aggressive breeding program. Her
father, Tusko, was a wild-caught Asian elephant who arrived at the zoo on a
breeding loan from Have Trunk Will Travel, a shameful elephant rental
company notorious for abusing elephants. It was reported that Rose-Tu, the
Asian elephant who is Lily’s mother, was brutally beaten by her keeper when
she was five years old.

Upon Lily’s birth, it was discovered that the Oregon Zoo had already sold
the infant to Have Trunk Will Travel, intending to separate the newborn from
her mother forever. In response to intense and righteous public backlash,
the Zoo later pledged to keep the two together. Sadly, Rose-Tu is now forced
to endure the immeasurable grief of her child’s death, all from within the
confines of a cage.

This broken family history is sadly typical of captive elephants everywhere.

Lily was the fourth elephant to die at the Oregon Zoo in the last three
years alone. This track record, in addition to its cruel breeding program
and the continued use of bullhooks, has landed this zoo on our Ten Worst
Zoos list eight times. Unless things change dramatically, it is likely to
appear again.

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